MY leaning birch is yellower today And down the long fall haze that is the sky The sun shines on the grackles going by The row of poles where fading bean-leaves sway; Shadows like something out of summer stay Along the paths where sunflowers have grown high; I almost touch a yellow butterfly That flutters on a stalk and flies away. There is nostalgia that such gardens hold After full summer and before a frost. The bitter smell among the marigold By a north wall where grass is wet and cold Is half a memory a child has lost, And half a troubled thought of growing old. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WESTERN CIVILIZATION by JAMES GALVIN ERASMUS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE PHANTOM HORSEWOMAN by THOMAS HARDY HOMAGE TO QUINTUS SEPTIMIUS FLORENTIS CHRISTIANUS (2) by ANYTE BACCHUS AND THE FROGS by ARISTOPHANES POLYHYMNIA: L'ENVOY by WILLIAM BASSE ON THE DEATH OF MR. GARRICK by JANE BOWDLER THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: AUTUMN by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |